"I don't see what the problem is," Bucky tells Steve. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know there's about three and a half million women here."
"I'd settle for just one." Steve sighs.
"Good thing we took care of that." I smile and wave at the two girls waiting for us.
"What did you guys tell her about me?" Steve asks.
"Only the good stuff." Will reassures him.
Bucky and Steve had dates but Will and I just wanted to hang out with each other for our last night. Bucky introduced one of the girls to Steve, and we all moved along closer to the main stage. There are hundreds of lights everywhere, apparently the future is literally brighter in Howard Stark's eyes.
Most girls would swoon after seeing Stark, but I wasn't most girls. I wasn't particularly fond of him either, he seemed too self conscious for my taste. Even if he was the richest man in New York.
"Ladies and gentleman! Mr. Howard Stark!" A Woman annonces him on stage, a row of peppy women walking around him and behind a fancy looking car. Howard kisses the woman before sending her behind the vehicle with the rest of them.
Stark was dressed in an expensive looking tuxedo, and dabbing his face with a white cloth. "Ladies and gentleman! What if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground, at all?" Two of the women walk back around and remove the tires from the car.
"With Stark's Gravitic reversion technology, you'll be able to do just that." He walks behind a control panel and slowly raises a lever. The car slowly gravitates up but only a few feet in the air.
"Holy cow." Bucky mutters, but I'm not as easily impressed. Soon enough there are sparks flying from the car and it plunges back to the ground.
"I did say a few years, didn't I?" Stark smiles, but nevertheless, the crowd still goes wild with applause.
"Steve, please tell me you don't believe this-" I turn around to Steve, but he isn't there anymore. Why would he leave? "Bucky, Will." I nudge the two of them
He looks around above the rest of the people and his eyes set on something.
"I think I know where he went." He sighs disappointed. "Come on." He grabs my hand and pulls us through the crowd, with Will right on our tail.
I'm not sure where we're going until we approach a army recruiting building. He didn't....
"Seriously Steve..." Will muttered.
We all spotted him standing in front of an army uniform mirror. I felt so bad. He at least deserved a chance. Bucky however didn't hesitate walking right up to him. He gently grabbed his shoulder and turned his body toward us.
"What are you doing, I thought we were having fun tonight?" Buck said.
"Well, this is a fair," He said looking back at the recruitment stand. "I wanted to try my luck."
"As who? Steve from Ohio?" Bucky said a little too aggressively. "They'll catch you. Or worse, they'll actually take you."
"Buck...." I said, trying to tell him he was going a bit too far, but he still didn't stop. Will held onto my shoulder from behind to keep from getting in between them.
"This isn't a back alley Steve, it's war!" Bucky shouted.
"I know it's war, you don't have to tell me." Steve said.
"Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs-"
"What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal-"
"Yes! Why not?"
"I"m not gonna sit in a factory, Bucky. Bucky, come on! There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me."
"Right." Bucky shook his head in disbelief. "Cause you've got nothin to prove."
"Alright, that's enough." I said shaking Will off me and stepping closer between the two. "You guys are best friends, so shut up and act like it."
"Don't do anything stupid until I get back." Bucky said in a more playful tone.
"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Steve said back to him.
Bucky just smiled and pulled him in for a hug. "You're a punk."
"Jerk." Steve sighed.
⍟
The friendship between the four of us was different, but in a good way. Everything seemed to be okay, but I couldn't help but worry about Steve, tomorrow he's gonna be on his own. Maybe I'm just too over protective of my friends.
We said our goodbyes, and that was that. We didn't know how long till we would be together again, or if we would at all. I guess this is just how it's supposed to be.
It was late and the Expo was over. I had at least a few hours left for sleep before tomorrow, but I doubt I'll use any of them. I never slept when I got really nervous.
"Anna, wait up!" I heard Bucky's familiar shout behind me.
I turned around and he was jogging down the street towards me.
"What're you doing here Buck? I thought you were out dancing?" He looked a little out of breath, but never the less he stood tall in front of me.
"It uh... Got boring, I thought I'd walk you home." He smiled.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." I smiled back at him and looked to the ground as we walked down the street.
Not much could be heard besides the quiet chirping of crickets. The clicking of my heels and the slightly softer clicks of Bucky's shoes. I was trying to focus on the rhythm of small background sounds. Bucky was uncharacteristically quiet, and it made me quite a bit nervous.
Every couple minutes I'd sneak a glance in his direction, but he continued to look down at the sidewalk. I didn't live much further so I wanted us to have some sort of closure before we parted ways.
We arrived at the apartment complex shortly, Bucky had stopped walking and just kinda stood at the base of the staircase. I turned towards him and hoped he would say something.
"I uh, I.... I'm gonna miss you, Anna." He said, finally looking me in the eyes.
"I'm gonna miss you too, James." He smiled at the mention of his given name but didn't say anything else. He was holding back though, I just didn't know what.
With that he quickly turned away and started stalking back down the street. And for some reason, I let him.
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AN: I know this took a while, but I keep getting random writers block. I haven't started a new fic for a while, so I'm still a little hesitant. I wanna make this good. I'll try to update sooner, but first I gotta work on CopyCat.
